COVID Victoria: New case, exposure sites in Melbourne CBD, Epping, Altona North
Hundreds of Victorians have been ordered to isolate after a man returned from hotel quarantine in Adelaide and tested positive for coronavirus.
Alerts were issued on Tuesday for exposure sites in Melbourne’s CBD, Epping and Altona North between Thursday and Saturday last week. Health investigators believe the man, aged in his 30s, was infected while in hotel quarantine at The Playford Hotel. A patient in an adjacent hotel room on May 4 tested positive to COVID-19 — the same day the man was released from his 14 days of isolation and flew to Melbourne.
hundreds of train passengers were on Tuesday night ordered into isolation, after the Department of Health revealed the infected man travelled on public transport.
Authorities were scrambling to determine whether commuters may have been exposed to the virus last week.
Anyone who caught the 5.28pm Craigieburn to Southern Cross service on Friday May 7, or the 10.20pm Flinders Street to Craigieburn service on the same night, must get tested and isolate immediately.
Both services have been deemed a Tier 2 exposure site by the Department of Health.
“If you were on this service – in any carriage, and alighting and departing at any station – follow the health advice,” a statement read.
“If you travelled around this time but are unsure about which service you caught, please get tested.”
Flinders Street station, Southern Cross station and Craigieburn station have all been deemed Tier 3 exposure sites, meaning anyone who was at any of these stations on May 7 must monitor for COVID symptoms.
“If you travelled around this time but are unsure about which service you caught, please get tested.”
Flinders Street station, Southern Cross station and Craigieburn station have all been deemed Tier 3 exposure sites, meaning anyone who was at any of these stations on May 7 must monitor for COVID symptoms.
The man, aged in his 30s, arrived in Victoria and returned to his home in Wollert, on Melbourne’s northern fringe, on May 4 before developing symptoms on May 8.
He got tested on Monday, May 10, and returned a positive result on Tuesday morning.
The man visited the Curry Vault Indian Restaurant and Bar 18-20 Bank Place in Melbourne CBD from 6.30pm and 9.30pm on Friday 7 May.
He also attended the India Gate Spices and Grocery 14c, 560-590 High St Epping between 5pm and 6pm Saturday, 8 May and Epping Woolworths between 5.40pm and 6.38pm on Saturday, 8 May.
The TIC Group front office at 232 Blackshaws Road, Altona North, from 12:01am - 11:59pm May 6 is also a Tier 1 exposure site.
People who were present at any Tier 1 exposure site during impacted times must get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days.
The TIC Group warehouse in Altona North is also a Tier 2 exposure site for all day on May 6.
Tier 2 sites also include the Epping 7/11, 705 High St, on May 6 from 6.30pm to 7.30pm and between 11.10am and 11.40am on Saturday, 8 May.
Anyone who has visited a Tier 2 location during these times must get a test and isolate until they receive a negative result.
It comes as the owner of an embattled Melbourne CBD restaraunt declared a Tier 1 coronavirus exposure site says he is “devastated” by the pandemic’s latest blow to his business.
Curry Vault Indian Restaurant and Bar owner Kailash Sharma said news a COVID-19-infected man visited the Bank Place site on May 7 means he must now close for at least 14 days.
“It’s very concerning, it’s such a terrible feeling when innocent people caught up in this,” Mr Sharma told the Herald Sun.
“We are closed for a deep clean until 10pm tonight and all affected staff members have self-isolated,” he said.
He said his business had lost more than $100,000 last year due to multiple lockdowns.
“I’m just so shocked this has all happened. We’ve been closed for almost a year and now this.
“I can’t reopen for at least two weeks as I have no staff, it’s just devastating.
People who were present at any Tier 1 exposure site during impacted times must get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days.
The TIC Group warehouse in Altona North is also a Tier 2 exposure site for all day on May 6.
Tier 2 sites also include the Epping 7/11, 705 High St, on May 6 from 6.30pm to 7.30pm and between 11.10am and 11.40am on Saturday, 8 May.
Anyone who has visited a Tier 2 location during these times must get a test and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Health Minister Martin Foley said the man’s three primary household primary contacts had returned a negative test result.
“Preparatory actions were well under way should any of them have tested positive,” he said.
“My understanding is the gentleman departed India via the Maldives via Singapore into Adelaide.”
The infected man is currently isolating at home, the Department revealed.
It’s not yet known if the positive man was an employee or close contact of someone linked to Citadel Health.
The Herald Sun revealed on Tuesday that employees at the Melbourne CBD health business were sent home on Tuesday morning “as a precaution” after a COVID scare in their offices at 459 Collins St.
Citadel Health staff were asked to leave to work from home, with a Citadel spokeswoman confirming that the company was liaising with the state Department of Health.
The nature of any exposure or risk is not yet known.
Citadel Health provides software support for the health sector including hospitals.
Comment was being sought from the health department.
A Department of Health spokeswoman told the Herald Sun the exact locations and details of where the Wollert man had visited since arriving back into Victoria were being worked through and further alerts would be issued in time.
The Herald Sun understands Health Minister Martin Foley and Chief Health Officer will hold a press conference about the new case at 3.15pm on Tuesday.
In South Australian quarantine, guests are tested on day 1, 5 and 13, but the state has also recently introduced a day nine test.
South Australia’s chief health officer, Professor Nicola Spurrier, said the infected patient tested negative on all tests in quarantine.
But he was quarantining in a room adjacent to a confirmed positive case, who was eventually transferred to another hotel.
Professor Spurrier confirmed authorities were scrambling to determine how the man got the virus.
“Of course there’s a number of potential hypothesis and we’re working through all of these,” she said.
Professor Spurrier said the man may have been exposed to the virus before entering quarantine.
She added it was also a possibility that he may have picked up the virus while in hotel quarantine.
“This is obviously right at the top of our mind, seeing where the risk happened in South Australia,” she said.
The man was discharged on Tuesday, May 4, and returned straight home to Victoria.
“We usually decide the infectious period is two days before someone develops symptoms, which would be 6 May,” she said.
State opposition spokesman David Davis said the state government needed to quickly “pounce” on the new case.
He said the new case was “concerning” and would put Victoria’s contact tracing teams to the ultimate test.
“There are a couple of key things here. The state needs to have the very best contact tracing system in the land and we don’t … We know we don’t, we know the problems are still there,” he said.
“We don’t think the state’s contact tracing is still up to scratch, we still don’t think it’s equivalent to New South Wales or elsewhere, and it should be.”
When asked if he was concerned about the prospect of another lockdown, Mr Davis said if the medical advice recommended a shutdown, it needed to be made publicly available.
“If it’s necessary, if they can’t quickly, with the contact tracing, get a grip on this (case), we can see the risk to the state,” he added.
Travellers arriving in NSW from Melbourne will need to complete a declaration form confirming they have not attended a public exposure site linked to the new COVID-19 case.
From 6am on Wednesday the forms will come into effect for anyone who has been in Melbourne for the previous 14 days.
“These declaration forms provide critical information to enable NSW Health to contact travellers if required and is for all travellers who intend to enter NSW by air, road and rail having been in Greater Melbourne in the previous 14 days,” NSW said in a statement.
“This form includes contact details and confirmation of whether people have been to any venues of concern. Declaration forms must be completed within the 24-hour period prior to entering NSW, or on entry to NSW.”
One new case was added to Victoria’s tally in hotel quarantine on Tuesday, a passenger who arrived into Australia from overseas.
That was separate to the Wollert case.
There were 8155 vaccine doses administered and 12,918 test results received in the past 24 hours.
It follows the announcement on Monday that Perth had been downgraded to a green zone under Victoria’s traffic light permit system after West Australia recorded another day of no community transmissions.
The changes were effective from 11.59pm Monday and included Perth’s metropolitan area and the Peel region.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer said the decision was based on an assessment of public health risks.
People entering Victoria from a green zone will still require a permit to visit the state.
They can be obtained at service.vic.gov.au and take around 5 minutes to be approved.
Green-zone permit holders are free to enter Victoria with no restrictions.
Western Australia’s capital was upgraded to a red zone on April 17, after a man was infected with coronavirus in the state’s hotel quarantine program.
He spent time in Perth before flying back to Melbourne when he was released from hotel quarantine.
It was only after he landed that he was told by West Australian authorities that he was a close contact of a positive case.
He immediately quarantined at his home in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, before moving into hotel quarantine at his request and testing positive.
The outbreak triggered a snap three-day lockdown in Perth, while all Victorians who returned home from Western Australia were forced to quarantine for 14 days.
Non-Victorians who entered the state from WA were required to enter hotel quarantine until a return flight could be arranged.
There are 18 active cases of coronavirus across Western Australia.
The state eased COVID-19 restrictions last Friday after close contacts linked to a cluster in hotel quarantine returned negative.